D and Bart made their way down one of the winding hallways. D pulled out his phone, but he was met with a low power message. “Bart, do you know how we are supposed to charge our phones?”
Bart looked at D and tilted his head. “Charge?”
They continued to walk down the corridor. “Bart, do you even know what a phone is?”
“Of course I do.”
“Then what do they run on?”
“Electricity.”
“And where is this stored.”
“In the phone’s battery.”
The silence was filled with the sounds of footsteps. Neither D nor Bart broke the silence as they continued to walk down the corridors.
A few minutes went by before D asked his next question. “Tell me, where do you think the phone’s energy comes from?”
“Its battery.”
“But where did the battery get its energy from.” Neither of the two looked at the other. They continued to walk down the corridor as they occasionally took a right or a left.
Bart pulled out his phone and looked at it. “From the phone?”
D didn’t respond as he turned right. The two paused as they looked at the corridor. It was filled with spaced out doors. “Tell me, Bart. How long have we been walking down these hallways?”
Bart was sweating a bit on his forehead as he refused to make eye contact. “A bit.”
“And how long is a bit?”
“A while.”
“And a while?”
Bart looked at one of the doors. “A bit longer than a bit.”
D didn’t glance at Bart. He pulled out his phone and clicked on the map icon, only to be met with an out of service message. “Tell me. Who said they found a shortcut.”
The sweat increased. “The map said it was a bit faster.”
D looked at his phone one last time before putting it away. “Tell me, Bart. How would you quantify a bit?”
The sweat was pouring as Bart tried his best to stare a hole through the floor. “A bit less than a while.”
“Bart. If you define a bit with a bit one more time.”
“Sorry.”
They continued walking. “Hey. Bart. When was the last time we saw someone?”
“I think it was a while ago.”
D was tempted to look at Bart but remained focused. “I need an actual time.”
Bart pondered for a second before responding. “Maybe an hour.”
“We have been walking for about 2 and a half hours. It has also been a while since I heard any noises coming from, well, anywhere.”
Bart started to look around. “Do you think this section of the school is set for demolition or something.”
“Definitely something.” The two of them paused. “Do you want to turn around?”
“I get the feeling something bad will happen if we do.”
D smiled and turned to face Bart. “Then I guess we are going to have a bad time.”
As the two turned around, the world shattered, revealing a dark void. The only other object within the darkness was a man wearing a skull face mask. “It’s about time you turned around. I was starting to wonder if you would choose to starve yourselves.” The masked man cracked his knuckles.
Bart did a few stretches to match him before flashing a cocky grin. “Naturally we would have died of dehydration first.”
D pulled out his knife and carefully approached the masked man. The man’s hair started to glow bright green as the void started to twist and turn. “So then, what made you target us? Is it that time of the month?”
“Your face. I hate it. I absolutely refuse!”
D looked at the man and waited for more. “And? Did you really pick a fight just because you didn’t like someone’s face?”
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The masked man cracked his neck. “I have started worse over less.”
“I see.”
Both of the men readied themselves. They slowly approached one another while maintaining their stances. Bart watched from the sidelines as a single drop of sweat fell to the ground.
The men lunged forward immediately.
{Warped World}
{Awaken}
A red flame engulfed D’s sword as it elongated, transforming into a long black sword with red veins pulsing through it.
**Clang**
D’s sword was knocked back after coming within an inch of the masked man. D jumped back as he watched his opponent charge forward. D threw a thrust only to have it miss the target. The masked man landed a right hook on D knocking him back.
Before D could ready a second attack, his sword was knocked out of his hand by a large burst of force. [Shi-]
**Crunch**
D barely managed to bring his left hand in front of the masked man’s punch. D didn’t even bother glancing at his mangled arm as he dogged a series of punches.
Bart finally regained his composure. His muscles bulged as he charged the masked man.
The man waved his hand, causing Bart to go flying off to the side with intense force.
D took a deep breath and tried to collect himself. His eyes dilatated as he made eye contact with the masked man. The man’s green eyes were burning with intense light. D’s left eye was deep crimson, but his right held a mix of brown within it. For a second, D could understand the man’s Template.
“Crushing world.” The man clapped his hand’s together, sending D into panic as he quickly lunged grabbed the man’s legs, dragging him to the ground.
**BANG**
D ignored the sound as he moved to choke the man. His eyes were both calm yet filled with panic.
{Never Ending World}
However, no matter how hard D tried, his arms couldn’t reach the man’s neck.
The man let out a slight chuckle. “Not bad, but you’re far from the first to try that.” The man slipped his hands between D’s arms and casually brushed him off. D rolled back and dashed towards his sword. “Bad choice. You were in a bad position before, but now you have it worse.”
The man reached his hand out. He then made a crushi-
**CRACK**
The man’s eyes darted to the right. He was filled with fear. A fist stood two inches from his face with cracks hanging in the air.
**CRACK-CRACK-CRACK**
The man started to make distance as he brought both of his hands together.
{Crushing World}
The man’s hands stopped before they could touch. They shook as if there were a force pushing against them. The figure that scared the man was momentarily stopped, but it wouldn’t last for long. [Shit. Where did this guy come from?] As the man was distracted, D swung his sword at the exposed back. However, the sword didn’t connect. “Trouble from both ends.” The man started to fall back. [Hm?] The man had overlooked something very important. It was only for a second, but that was far more than enough.
{Warp-}
**SHATER**
“Gah!” Blood erupted from the man’s mouth as the mask shattered. Two punches were thrown in succession just too fast for the man to react. His head and stomach were in critical condition as he fell to a knee. [Shit…] The man waited for the finishing blow, but it never came. Instead, a towering figure was giving off a ridiculous amount of steam. [Chance!]
**CLAP**
Henery ignored the pressure at his back as he focused his aura through his body. He knew this was do or die. The thing in front of him was not prey. It wasn’t even a predator. [No, that thing…] Henery looked at the creature staring down at him with a piercing and uncaring gaze. It was gazing at Henery as if he were an insect. [Is a hunter.]
{Warped World – Endless Prison}
The world started to warp as the distance between the three increased endlessly. However, Henery noticed that the hunter never once stopped looking at him. No, the distance was irrelevant. As for the other one-
**Splash**
Henery looked at the blade piercing his left shoulder. [Impossible!] He traced the sword back to its owner. The blade stretched for miles. [His Template allows him to extend his blade! This is bad.] A shiver ran down Henery’s back as he refocused on the hunter. No matter how far away he was, it would never be enough. The blade had already returned to its wielder. Heck, the distance between Henery and the Hunter was increasing by the second. However, the unease wouldn’t cease. He knew that he was in danger. The figure was too much for Henery.
The hunter flashed a giant smile as his muscles bulged further. His eyes were busting with purple energy. His hair was also burning a blinding yellow.
“POWER!”
The hunter readied himself as the ground beneath him cracked, revealing a white spider web.
“CHARGE!”
The hunter vanished from the spot and turned into a blur. Henery watched as the creature seemed to accelerate even faster. [No choice. I guess I’ll have to use that bastard’s technique.] Henery put his hands together and steadied his breathing. “First Gate, open.” A green aura started to coat Henery.
The hunter locked eyes with Henery; however, they changed from indifference to excitement. “POWER-IMPACT!!!” The hunter screamed so loud that Henery nearly collapsed.
Despite his fear, Henery steeled his nerves and threw a punch with as much aura jammed within it as possible. “SHATTERING WORLD!”
White cracks blanketed the void as sparks flew in the space between the punches. Neither fist could connect.
D watched from a distance. He was no longer in range to do anything. He also knew that he wouldn’t be able to handle that kind of attack anyways. Instead, he started to think about his situation. [Am I really supposed to fight against that?] For the first time, D felt unsure of himself. His memories of his past may have been sealed, but he still had all of his techniques and skills. He could feel it. He knew that he was able to fight at 100%. Therefore, he knew. This was a fight between two monsters, and he was a human. The distance between the monsters was easily over 30 miles. Yet their clash was easily visible and overpowering.
The fight raged on, but D was staring at his right hand. In it was his knife. The weapon he previously held absolute confidence in. The only thing that could bring him comfort. His partner through thick and thin. And the reminder that he was human.
D looked at the enormous amount of aura clashing against one another. [There is no doubt about it.] D looked at his right hand, then turned to his shattered left arm. It was swinging a decent bit due to the distant force. The pain was intense, but D could bear it. He was used to pain. It was something he knew. It was engrained within him. So why? D bit his lip and drew blood. Tears started to fall from his eyes in who knows how long. Even with his memories sealed, he knew that this was a somewhat new yet nostalgic sensation. [Am I crying?] D looked at his shaking right hand. The knife that he believed in provided no comfort. D was consumed by his realization. [I would have died.]
***
A man looked on from a distance, downing a cup of water. “Welcome to my world kid.” The man put down his cup and started moving forward. “Looks like we really are the same.” The man’s eyes were nostalgic. The man stood up and vanished.